Rain
by Symphony's Feather
Summary: "It is raining, and she is running." When Hinata slips on her doubts, Naruto is always there to catch her. NaruHina.


**A/N: First uploaded Naruto fic! I'M SO HAPPY.**

**Summary: "It is raining, and she is running." When Hinata slips on her doubts, Naruto is always there to catch her. NaruHina.**

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Rain

It is raining, and she is running.

"Hinata—wait! Hinata!" His footsteps pound on wet gravel, the sound making her teeth grind and her eyes squeeze tight.

It is raining, and she is being chased.

She slips on mud. Gravity tilts, and she's on the ground, the knees of her pants and her pale hands covered in sludge. Then she's up again, rushing, racing, running to Kami knows where.

She turns a corner blindly, finds herself out in the open. No, no, _no_: she wants to hide, not be exposed!

It is raining, and she is—

She stops. He's caught up while she's been thinking. He's too fast for her, too good, too strong, too _Uzumaki Naruto_, and she is just Hinata. The Hyuuga heiress, the girl with the strange eyes, the girl that will never live up to her father's expectations. She's too weak and too slow and she won't ever be good enough for him.

Not like Sakura was.

"Hinata." His voice is level. "Why are you running?"

"Why are you following me?" Her voice trembles, and it's so unlike his that the lump in her throat just gets bigger.

"_Hinata_." He is immeasurably calm. _Like Neji_, she thinks miserably. _Like Sasuke._ _Like anyone else __other__ than me_.

He repeats his question. "_Why_ are you running?"

And all at once she's trapped in his sapphire gaze and she just gives up.

She stands, with her hands at her sides and her head bowed, and lets herself cry, because the saltwater just mixes with the rain and it doesn't matter if he sees her since he's already done so too many times.

_He's watched her cry too many times_.

"I don't know," she whispers.

"Hinata?" His voice is gentler now, but she refuses to look at him. "I don't know," she repeats, more loudly, and her voice is hollow.

There is silence between them, and it's the most troubled silence she's known.

Finally, finally, finally she raises her eyes to meet his. His expression is confused and slightly hurt, like he did something wrong but he doesn't know it.

She nearly chokes out a laugh but decides against it. "I'm not her."

"What?" He is startled by her choice of words.

"I'm not Sakura."

Something in his expression seems to stumble and fracture. "Wha—Hinata, I don't expect you to be." But his voice is unsure, like he's asking himself a question.

"I'm not Sakura," she says again, "and I never will be. But I think that is who you want me to be . . . _Naruto_."

When she says his name he visibly shivers.

She doesn't think it's from the downpour they're standing in.

"I'm not good enough for you." She forces the words out.

_Can you hear a heart break, amidst all the rain?_ It sounds like a quote in her own mind.

He stares at the ground. Something drips on the sidewalk, and it's not rainwater.

It's silent again and she hates it suddenly, like she used to hate her failure. _Maybe you still do,_ her conscience whispers.

Anger flames in her chest and then fizzles as quickly as it has come. She doesn't get angry because she's not that kind of person because she's Hyuuga Hinata and—

"You faced Pain." Naruto glances down at the ground and then up at her again: quickly, like he's afraid she'll disappear.

Now it's her turn to be startled. "What?" Her voice sounds two-and-a-half years younger, like she's twelve and she can barely use the Byakugan, bundled up into that soft tan sweatshirt.

"You challenged Pain," he repeats. "You saved my life." His eyes are steadier now; not as shifty as before.

She stares at him silently, waiting.

"You battled Neji," he continues. "You were part of the Konoha 11."

Her eyes travel left, then right, then down, finally resting on her jacket. "What are you getting at, Naruto?" It's not a defensive query; in truth, with the rain beating down and her earlier tears mingling with it, her voice just sounds miserable.

"Hinata." Something in his voice makes her look up.

His eyes are the color of the ocean, his expression calm. His mouth is curled—not into a smile, exactly, but something almost like it.

"I . . ." He hesitates. Now that her eyes are on him, he seems unsure again. But he takes a deep breath, and persists. "I'm still not sure how I felt about Sakura. I might have—loved her"—his voice cracks—"but I know I—" He sighs, rubs his neck with one hand; shuts his eyes for a few long seconds, and opens them. "What I'm trying to say is . . . I really like you a lot, too, Hinata."

She silently lets out a breath she's been holding, letting the pound of her heart in her ears calm her. She's slightly disappointed in his choice of words, but Hyuuga Hinata is patient, so she supposes she can wait just a little longer.

"What do you think?" he asks her, and slight anxiety traces his features.

She allows herself a small smile. "I think it's a start," she replies softly, and his tense expression relaxes.

He smiles back, and a twinge of mischief comes into his eyes. "You really are good enough for me," he says softly, and _her_ smile finally reaches her eyes.

All at once he leans down and kisses her, and everything is perfect.

It is still raining, but it doesn't matter, because she is Hyuuga Hinata and he is Uzumaki Naruto, and they will always be good enough for each other.

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**A/N: Is Naruto OOC? I'm sorry if he is. I'm better at serious, romantic fics than I am at funny, romantic fics.**

**If you didn't really get the plotline, Sakura was with Naruto, but then somehow Sasuke came back and now she's with him. Then Naruto and Hinata got together, and . . . yeah. Even I'm a little confused . . .**

**Please review, and please check out my other stories!**

**~Feather **


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